Friday 1/2/15: Start the New Year with a Bang at the 8th Annual Charles Bukowski Memorial Reading!

Celebrate the start of the new year with the 8th annual Charles Bukowski Memorial Reading, Jan. 2, 2015, 6pm at Cornelia St. Cafe. Charles Bukowski was truly one of the few and far between: a champion of the outsider, the lost and lonely, the outcasts from society. His work resonates like none other, revealing the core of what it is to be human—sans electronics—counting on nothing, but ready to win, be it with horses, women or writing. 

The event, held on the first Friday of the new year since 2008, will feature performances of Bukowski poems and tales by a unique cast of hardcore fans including controversial writer Kim Addonizio (author of Bukowski in a Sundress), playwrights Richard Vetere and Michael Puzzo, poets Thomas Fucaloro, George Wallace and Puma Perl, plus Three Rooms Press co-directors Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges. 

 Readers will explore Bukowski’s works with respect to its place in contemporary culture. What would Buk think of police brutality? ebola? global warming? online privacy? So much seems to have changed since his time, but has it really? 

 Everyone in attendance will have a chance to win a prize: Buk books, CDs, DVDs and other prizes. Plus bring your own favorite Bukowski poem to read — we’ll have a limited open mic for you to share your top choice. 

Doors open at 5:45 (for best seating—arrive early!). Admission is $12 which includes (naturally) a free drink! Cornelia Street Cafe is at 29 Cornelia Street, in the West Village, between W. 4th Street at Bleecker (http://corneliastreecafe.com/). Info and reservations: info@threeroomspress.com. 

 Information on key performers: 

Kim Addonizio has been called “one of our nation’s most provocative and edgy poets.” Her latest books are Lucifer at the Starlite, a finalist for the Poets Prize and the Northern CA Book Award; and Ordinary Genius: A Guide for the Poet Within, both from W.W. Norton.  Her novel-in-verse, Jimmy & Rita, was recently reissued by Stephen F. Austin State University Press. Kalima Press  published her Selected Poems in Arabic. Addonizio’s honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, two NEA Fellowships, and Pushcart Prizes for both poetry and the essay. Her collection Tell Me was a National Book Award Finalist. Other books include two novels from Simon & Schuster, Little Beauties and My Dreams Out in the Street. Her new story collection, The Palace of Illusions, materialized courtesy of Counterpoint/Soft Skull in September 2014. Addonizio offers private poetry workshops in Oakland, NYC, and online, and often incorporates her love of blues harmonica into her readings.  www.kimaddonizio.com. 

Richard Vetere is an American playwright and screenwriter whose work has received international critical acclaim. His is the author of the play Last Day, and a novel, Baroque, about Caravaggio and the people he painted in Rome. His authored a recent poetry collection, The Other Colors in a Snow Storm. Movies include The Third Miracle (produced by Francis Ford Coppola), How to Go Out on a Date in Queens, and the cult classic, Vigilante. His most recent work includes his highly-praised new novel, THE WRITERS AFTERLIFE (2014, Three Rooms Press) and the forthcoming novel CHAMPAGNE AND COCAINE, due out in Fall 2015. 

Michael Puzzo is a writer and actor living in NYC. He has been a LAByrinth Theater Company member since 1997. His critically-acclaimed plays include Spirits of Exit Eleven, The Dirty Talk (nominated for an Innovative Theater Award for best script), Lyric Is Waiting (Irish Repertory Theater), The Horse Shoe King of Jersey City (Aspen Comedy Festival), She Talks To Rainbows (LAByrinth’s Barn Series Reading Festival @ The Public) and #309 (Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai, India). He loves Bukowski! 

Puma Perl is a poet, performance artist and curator, founder of DDAY Productions and author of several poetry collections including the recent Retrograde (2014, Great Weather for Media) Ruby True, Knunckle Tattoos and Belinda and Her Friends. She notes, "with Bukowski, you can open any book randomly and find a poem to read." 

Thomas Fucaloro is the author of two full-length poetry collections, including It Starts From the Belly and Blooms and Inheriting Craziness (both Three Rooms Press). He is a founding editor for Great Weather for Media and editor for staten island's new literary magazine NYSAI. He teaches poetry workshops at the NEON Bronx Probation Center, Writopia Lab, The Acorn Youth Treatment Center and the Staten Island LGBTQ Community Center. He just received his MFA in creative writing from the New School. He has a new chapbook coming out soon through Tired Hearts Press called Mistakes Disguised as Stars.

George Wallace is Writer in Residence at the Walt Whitman Birthplace (2011-present), first poet laureate of Suffolk County NY, author of 28 chapbooks of poetry, and the full-length poetry collections, Poppin’ Johnny and EOS: Abductor of Men (bilingual; Greek and English) (both Three Rooms Press). An adjunct professor of English at Pace University in Manhattan, he is editor of Poetrybay, Poetryvlog, Walt‘s Corner, and co-editor of Great Weather For Media and Long Island Quarterly. 

Peter Carlaftes is a New York-based screenwriter, playwright, actor, poet, and editor. He is the author of 12 plays, including a noir treatment of Knut Hamsun’s Hunger, and the celebrity rehab center spoof, Spin-Dry. He has appeared in numerous Off-Broadway productions, including his comic solo performance piece, Lenny Bruce: Dead & Well, as well as Barefoot in the Park and Stephen Adly Guirgis' Den of Thieves. As an author, Carlaftes has penned three books: A Year on Facebook (humor), Drunkyard Dog and I Fold With The Hand I Was Dealt (poetry) and the play collections and the forthcoming Teatrophy (3 More Plays). He is a co-director of Three Rooms Press. 

Kat Georges is a New York-based poet, playwright, performer and designer. In New York since 2003, she has curated poetry readings, performed widely, and written and directed numerous Off-Broadway plays (including Jack Kerouac: Catholic by Larry Myers, and The Old In-and-Out, by Madeline Artenberg and Karen Hildebrand, as well as her own work SCUM: The Valerie Solanas Story, and Art Was Here, a play inspired by Dada predecessor Arthur Cravan). Books include Slow Dance at 120 Beats a Minute, Punk Rock Journal and Our Lady of the Hunger. She is co-director of Three Rooms Press.

12/6: Three Rooms Press Annual Prose! Poetry! Party at Cornelia St. Cafe NYC

Since ancient times, everyone knows that the best things in come in Threes (think: The Three Stooges!). In honor of the old maxim “omen trim perfectum”, we present three sets of three superb writers recently, or about to be, published by Three Rooms Press.

Join us for a Prose! Poetry! Party! with award-winning authors (and kick-ass performers!) including the fiercesome threesome Hala Alyan (winner of the 2013 Arab American Book Award for Poetry), Richard Vetere (author of the forthcoming TRP book, The Writers Afterlife), and David Lawton (author of Sharp Blue Stream (TRP, 2013)); the terrific trio Jane Ormerod (author of Welcome to the Museum of Cattle (TRP, 2012) and Recreational Vehicles on Fire (TRP, 2009)), Thomas Fucaloro (author of the forthcoming It Starts in the Belly and Blooms (TRP, 2014) and Inheriting Craziness is a Soft Halo of Light (TRP, 2010)), and Jane LeCroy (author of Signature Play (TRP, 2012); and the mighty triad Robert Gibbons (author of Close to the Tree (TRP, 2012)); Matthew Hupert (author of Ism is a Retrovirus (TRP, 2011)), and George Wallacetroika (author of EOS: Abductor of Men (TRP, 2012) and Poppin' Johnny (TRP, 2009). The event will be hosted by Three Rooms Press co-directors Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges. All authors will be available to sign books and take photos at the reading. Plus all audience members will be eligible to win free prizes throughout the event!

ABOUT THREE ROOMS PRESS Three Rooms Press is a New York-based publisher and performing arts producer, founded in 1993. Since its inception, it has served as a leading independent publisher of creative content, including poetry translations, drama and art sourced from the burgeoning international spoken word, music and underground art scenes. In 2011, it expanded its publishing line to include cutting edge work in fiction, creative historical nonfiction, memoir, photography and art. In addition, Three Rooms Press produces and promotes a variety of literary and cultural events in New York, Paris, Berlin, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and more, including readings, plays, workshops and concerts.

Nov. 13: EOS:hope--A Bilingual Benefit Reading to support Project Hope for Greece

The poetry of George Wallace 

interpreted in Greek and English by Anthoula Katsimatides | Martha Tompoulidou | Marina Stenos | Peter Carlaftes | Kat Georges

In EOS: Abductor of Men, a bilingual poetry collection (Greek-English) dedicated to the contemporary struggles of the Greek people, George Wallace rivets readers with his thoroughly original, modern day poetic flow, elevating bakeries to the temples of gods and love to a powerful river. To celebrate this unique book and to raise awareness of the ongoing crisis in Greece, Three Rooms Press presents a special bilingual benefit reading on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013.

All profits from books sold at the event will be used to support Project Hope for Greece, a movement aimed at creating philanthropy amongst North Americans in response to the worst financial and humanitarian crisis facing Greece in an entire generation. Complimentary food and drinks will be provided by GRK: Fresh Greek and YA Mastiha Liqueur.

Readers include actress, wrier and philanthropist Anthoula Katsimatides, distinguished Greek actress Martha Tompoulidou, writer and philanthropic consultant Marina Stenos, and Three Rooms Press co-directors Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges.

Additional information and reservations: Three Rooms Press, 212-731-0574, info@threeroomspress.com

7 pm, Wednesday, November 13, 2013 

Press and Communication Office of the Permanent Mission of Greece to the UN 

305 E 47th Street, 2nd Floor | New York, NY 10017

Free Admission

Complimentary food and beverage provided by GRK: Fresh Greek, YA Mastiha Liqueur.

“George Wallace realigns the rules... And the transcendent spirit, above materiality, is the spirit of Greekness, of Greeks. The poems in EOS are hopeful poems of what is possible, real, holy. The collection leaves me with a belief in the endlessness of people, their connection to the past—and to each other, and to all time.”

— Tryfon Tolides, Tsotili, West Macedonia, Greece, Lannan Foundation Resident

About George Wallace

George Wallace (AB, MPH, MFA) is an award winning poet and journalist from New York who has performed his work across America and in Europe. Author of Poppin’ Johnny (Three Rooms Press, 2009) and twenty-five chapbooks of poetry, he has served as editor of Poetrybay (www.poetrybay.com), Long Island Quarterly, Walt’s Corner, Great Weather for Media, and other electronic and hard copy literary publications. A former Peace Corps Volunteer, USAF Medical Officer and Community Health Organizer, he is winner of the CW Post Poetry Prize and the Poetry Kit Best Book award. With Oklahoma poet laureate Carol Hamilton he co-founded the Woody Guthrie Poetss, and was named a “Next Generation Beat” by the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac festival committee. In 2003, George Wallace was named first Poet Laureate for Suffolk County, NY. In 2011 he was named Writer in Residence at the Walt Whitman Birthplace.

About Three Rooms Press

Three Rooms Press is a New York-based publisher and performing arts producer, founded in 1993. Since its inception, it has served as a leading independent publisher of creative content, including poetry translations, drama and art sourced from the burgeoning international spoken word, music and underground art scenes. In 2011, it expanded its publishing line to include cutting edge work in fiction, creative historical nonfiction, memoir, photography and art. In addition, Three Rooms Press produces and promotes a variety of literary and cultural events in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Berlin, London, and more, including readings, plays, workshops and concerts. Website: www.threeroomspress.com

Charles Bukowski Memorial Poetry Reading This Friday at Cornelia St. Cafe, NYC!

Three Rooms Press presents The 6th Annual NYC 
Charles Bukowski Memorial Reading
Friday, January 4, 2012, 6 pm
Featuring readings by
Mike Daisey | Richard Vetere | Michael Puzzo 
Peter Carlaftes | Nicca Ray | Angelo Verga | Puma Perl 
George Wallace | Thomas Fucaloro
hosted by Kat Georges
Plus Poetry | Rare Videos | Prizes
Cornelia St Cafe, NYC
29 Cornelia Street | between W. 4th and Bleecker 
212-989-9313
Celebrate the start of the new year with the 6th annual Charles Bukowski Memorial Reading, held on the first Friday of the new year since 2008 and start nursing that new year hangover.
The event will feature performance of Bukowski poems by a unique cast of hardcore fans including monologist/actor Mike Daisey, playwright Richard Vetere, actor/playwright Michael Puzzo, and Three Rooms Press founders Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges, along with poets Nicca Ray, Angelo Verga, Puma Perl, Thomas Fucaloro and George Wallace.
This year's reading will also launch THE MONTHLY at Cornelia Street Cafe, a new monthly reading series hosted by Three Rooms Press
Poet Charles Bukowski was truly one of the few and far between: a champion of the outsider, the lost and lonely, the outcasts from society. During this ongoing period of economic uncertainty and working class adversity, his work resonates like none other, stripping the human soul bare with humor, style and a bottle of beer. 
What would Bukowski think about the fiscal cliff? How would he feel about the demise of the US Post Office? Would Buk have a Twitter account? At this tribute reading, we’ll show videos of Bukowski, plus giving away Buk books, CDs, DVDs and other prizes.
Doors open at 5:45. Admission is $12 which includes (naturally) a free drink! Cornelia Street Cafe is at 29 Cornelia Street, in the West Village, between W. 4th Street at Bleecker (http://corneliastreecafe.com/).
Event website: http://threeroomspress.com/2012/12/6th-annual-bukowski-memorial-reading/
Info and reservations: info@threeroomspress.com

Launch Pad 2: New Books by Kat Georges and George Wallace, 10/22 at LPR

Three Roms Press presents
The Launch Pad @ LPR
A New Series Celebrating 
New Books on Three Rooms Press
Session 2: Monday, October 22, 2012 
Doors open 6:30pm | Showtime 7pm
EOS: Abductor of Men, by George Wallace
Our Lady of the Hunger, by Kat Georges

Following a packed opening night, The Launch Pad series continues at Le Poisson Rouge on Monday October 22 with the launch of books by two award-winning, cutting edge NY poets: George Wallace and Kat Georges. The Launch Pad series was created by Three Rooms Press in partnership with Le Poisson Rouge, and brings newly published work of established and emerging poets from around the world to the New York spotlight.

EOS: Abductor of Men, by George Wallace is a bilingual collection (Greek-English) dedicated to the contemporary struggles of the Greek people. Wallace rivets readers with his thoroughly original, modern day beat flow, elevating bakeries to the temples of gods and love to a powerful river. "Like no other poet you've read before...Wallace doesn't want to simply remake the conventions of the contemporary free verse poems as we understand them; he seems to want to remake the reader herself, to alter her aesthetically and psychologically," says Terri Brown-Davidson, Pedestal Magazine. With stunning translations to Greek by Lina Sipitanou, this book is like no other you've read before. George Wallace (AB, MPH, MFA) is an award winning poet and journalist from New York who has performed his work across America and in Europe. Author of Poppin’ Johnny (Three Rooms Press, 2009) and twenty-five chapbooks of poetry, he has served as editor of Poetrybay (www.poetrybay.com), Long Island Quarterly, Walt’s Corner, Great Weather for Media, and other electronic and hard copy literary publications. In 2011 he was named Writer in Residence at the Walt Whitman Birthplace.

Our Lady of the Hunger, is the first full-length collection of poems by Kat Georges, whose work has been heard and published internationally for three decades. Often hilarious, always insightful, Kat Georges writes inspired narrative poems inspired by punk rock, pop culture, food and the driving need to create, all the while exploring what it is to be a woman in the modern world. Georges is an internationally-recognized NYC-based poet, playwright, performer, editor and designer. In addition to writing poetry, she has directed numerous Off-Broadway plays, curated poetry readings (including the bi-monthly Son of a Pony poetry reading series at Cornelia Street Cafe), and performed widely. She is co-founder and editor of Three Rooms Press; their most recent books include Maintenant 6: A Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing and Art; Have a NYC: New York Short Stories; and Mike Watt: On and Off Bass, a collection of photos and distilled tour diaries from the great punk rock bass player. Her poetry is included in The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry (Thunders Mouth Press), The Verdict is In (manic d press; also co-editor); Mas Tequila (Mas Tequila Press); and The Unbearables Big Book of Sex (Autonomedia), among countless other journals and literary magazines.

Session 2 of The Launch Pad @ LPR is Monday, October 22. Doors open 6:30 pm; showtime: 7 p.m. Admission is free; reservations are highly recommended. Le Poisson Rouge is at 158 Bleecker Street (at Thompson). Additional information: info@threeroomspress.com.

New poetry books by George Wallace and Jane Ormerod Just Released by Three Rooms Press

Three Rooms Press is pleased to announce the release of new poetry collections by New York poets: Poppin' Johnny by George Wallace (2009, 104 pages, $15.00, Three Rooms Press (TRP-002)) and Recreational Vehicles on Fire by Jane Ormerod (2009, 102 pages, $15.00, Three Rooms Press (TRP-003)).

Wallace's book is a stunning collection of muscular poetry. Beat musician David Amram declares, "Jack Kerouac would have loved him." An upcoming review in Big City Lit notes, "Influenced by a number of aesthetics, the poetry of George Wallace constitutes a departure from conventional academic poetry of the late 20th century; following paths suggested by French Surrealism and American Beat Prosody. " The review, by poet Angelo Verga (author of "Praise for What Remains" (limited edition imprint, 2008, 30 pages, $12.00, Three Rooms Press), reveals, "I don’t know precisely where George wants to take himself (and us) next, not to mention his inner rottweiler, and that woman with big hair on television reporting the news, but wherever it is, I’m packed and ready to go." And poet David St John observes, "[Wallace] is writing with the same conversational dictions that arose/arise from the work of William Carlos Williams, and yet he gives his poetry an absolutely contemporary flavor."
Thematically, Wallace mixes political with personal, and the result is nothing short of incredible. For instance in "I Love You, You are Like America," his writing is a flow of consciousness that is inclusive and upbeat, yet somehow hauntingly sad and beautiful and sweet--all at the same time.

I love you, you are like america
and when you talk from one side
of your mouth you are huck finn
on a raft you are a playground
swing in dampening wind you are
a hobo on a sad shining road a
mayfly a mustard stain a hot dog
stand a sweet crazy grace note
a spring flower on a hot day
a city with a pulse a goldmine
that just won't quit and when you
talk from the other side of your
mouth you are like america too
a herd of buffalo in sleet a mallard
duck in a small muddy creek a tomboy
with a twisted braid a slide trombone
that has lost its way you are a ball
game at night bases loaded nobody
out you are goldenrod and i am sure
i love you from both sides of my heart
...

Jane Ormerod's new collection, Recreational Vehicles on Fire, offers an entirely different vibe, showing more of a concrete poet's aesthetic that is linked to Wallace in that they both share a deep love of English language. With 27 poems, this book is her first full-length collection to date. Described by Metro/Silicon Valley as "A gritty and gutsy postmodern poet," Ormerod's work fascinates with its daring no-holds barred approach, where seemingly disparate images collide in unfathomable juxtapositions, as seen in her poem "Mind Apologies."

There is language, the girl says
which may be predicted like weather
The hearty hellos, solicitous enquiries, a dockside farewell.
Other language is constructed like lasagne
or mixed into poultry stuffing
It may spill like potatoes tumbling from market speeding trucks
Think of boiling living lobsters
Miso ramen
Blowfish
Batter

Both books are available on Amazon. For interviews, booking info and questions, please contact Kat Georges at threeroomspress@mac.com

Harold Norse Memorial Reading: Monday, July 20, Cornelia St. Cafe

A memorial reading and poets’ tribute will celebrate the life of writer Harold Norse (who died June 8, 2009), at 6 p.m., Monday, July 20 at Cornelia Street Café in Greenwich Village.

The reading is co-curated by poet and Beat scholars Valery Oisteanu and Kat Georges. The line up of scheduled readers is made up of Norse’s friends, colleagues and fans including: Ira Cohen, Max Blagg, Jeffrey Cyphers Wright, Steve Dalachinsky, Shelley Miller, Angelo Verga, Tom Walker, George Wallace and others.

Born 1916, in New York City, Norse earned degrees at Brooklyn College and NYU, before becoming--at age 22 in 1939--a member of W. H. Auden's inner circle. William Carlos Williams called him “the best poet of your generation.” Norse lived in the “Beat Hotel” in Paris, 1960-63, with William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso. There he wrote his experimental cut-up novel, Beat Hotel, now in its 30th printing. In 1974, City Lights published Norse’s Hotel Nirvana: Selected Poems, establishing him among the leading Beat poets.

He was nominated for the 1974 National Book Award. He was also recognized for his work "Memoirs of a Bastard Angel," which documents his relationships with W. H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood, e.e. cummings, Tennessee Williams, William Carlos Williams, James Baldwin, Dylan Thomas, Burroughs, Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, Bukowski, Robert Graves, Anais Nin, Paul and Jane Bowles and many more. He continued to write until his death this month in San Francisco.

Cornelia Street Café is at 29 Cornelia St. (between W. 4th St. & Bleecker), near the W. 4th Street A-B-C-D-E-F-V. Admission is $7, which includes a free drink. For reservations and additional information, call 212-731-0574 or email threeroomspress@mac.com.